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Nature 448, 974-975 (30 August 2007) | doi:10.1038/448974a; Published online 29 August 2007

Air force had early warning of pulsars

Geoff Brumfiel

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Staff sergeant spotted neutron star before astronomers.

It was one of the most important astronomical discoveries of the twentieth century, and it became one of the more controversial when only one of the discoverers received a Nobel prize. Now a fascinating new footnote has been added to the story of how pulsars were discovered with the revelation that some had previously been observed by a US Air Force staff sergeant at a remote Alaskan outpost.

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